Snaggy: Can you delete my post of june 3rd (the 6th slot). It's not fair that I got that many turns given so few people in the chain.

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Here's a concept for a story. Participants must post a reply to this within the next 24 or so hours which simply says "placeholder". Sometime Tuesday I will write a concluding paragraph for the story. At that point each person who left a placeholder will, in reverse sequence, write the dialog that leads up to the ending so far. (Are you following this?) That is if the posters are QF, A, B, C, D, E, F and G, then G will have to edit their post to have it feed the ending, then F will have to feed G, and so on.

Why in reverse? Because when we tried this in the past, some idiot would always post "and then they were all killed in a car crash" or two people would post at the same time and fork the story. This way is a little more intellectually challanging, and reduces the ability of any one person to direct the story into a dead end.

posted June 03, 2002 17:26
Frank Rodgers came to the front of the boat, where Dan and Ken were talking, andbroke the brief silence. "So, Simmons, my plan seems to have worked, didn'tit?"

Dan replied uncertainly, "We'll see soon enough, Frank. But I have to admit,stashing the diamonds with the buoy was a good idea. At first, I didn'tunderstand it, and thought it would be easier to bring the goods back with us.Who knew the cops would search everything for them, even my radio was takenapart. But you thought things through, that's why I asked you to work with us."

Stepping away from the controls of the boat, Ken Camisarosa sat with them andsaid, "As nice a job as Frank did, no amount of planning could get us as far asour man of action, Dan Simmons. I still can't believe that we managed to stealthe diamonds from that couple, while on their own boat. And I would never have diverted the boat I was piloting for others to drop jewels off at a buoy, if I didn't have a guy like Dan to back me up. I didn't think we'd be able to pullthat off, but the cunning GPS routing of Frank's helped us to slowly get there and back in the wee hours of the morning."

"Yeah, I guess it was a good thing you and Dan worked on that boat with the rich folks - I was never good at being subservient. I'm not much of a people person, and I don't think I'd want to play the role of Ken's assistant." said Frank with a rare smile.

Ken responded, "What are you afraid of, that I'd have you pull the boat with a harness? Or would I just hurt your independent ways by being your boss?"

Trying to keep the peace, Dan chimed in, "Now, now, let's be calm about this - we're almost done with this mess, and then we can take some time off with a pretty payoff awaiting us. Why don't we sit back, and give Ken some room, so he can get us to our reward?"

posted June 03, 2002 18:44
Kenny Camisarosa knew that he was in a boat full of fools. His mind wandered from the crime to the current events, and then back again to his days on the beaches of Malibu.

He recalled the day he asked Adrienne Brown to marry him and the way she quickly tore up her boyfriend's picture and said yes to Kenny.... how beautiful she was as she dumped Daniel the bike mechanic for him.... forever.

A wave splashed over the bow and jostled Kenny's body, and he remembered the shudders he felt when Adrienne left him for Jim the Bartender. "Why did I trust her?", pondered Kenny as he fingered the gun in his pocket, "I will never trust again, its all for me!"

Kenny tightened up the drawstring on the hood of his winter coat and smiled to himself.

posted June 04, 2002 05:09
The next couple of hours in the boat were uneventful. Frank Rodgers kept an eye out for more Coast Guard cutters, while Ken Camisarosa steared them ever closer to the GPS coordinates the locater beacon sent before the saltwater got to it. Simmons thought it best to keep an eye out for Coast Guard helicopters -- they hadn't seen any yet, but he'd seen too many police chase videos where the suspect was captured because a helicopter kept an eye on him.

Rodgers decided to strike up conversation. "Danny. What're you going to do with your share?"

"I'm going to go to this little island I know of, buy myself a shack on the beach, and stare at girls in bikinis."

"All right, Mister Camisarosa, sir! What are you going to do with your share?"

Camisarosa didn't asnwer. Instead, he announced, "We're there. These are the coordinates."

For the next ten minutes, they drifted in silence, looking for the orange baloon that kept the coolers afloat. Simmons saw them first, "There they are!" Camisarosa started up the motor and steered toward the baloons.

The former Navy diver started taking off his shoes to dive in after the loot when Rodgers stopped him. "Mister Camisarosa, sit down. I'll get them." He kicked off his sandles and was in the water before anyone could object. Shortly, he surfaced next to the boat with two coolers.

As Rodgers handed Simmons the coolers, Simmons noticed one wasn't tied to the balloon tether. "What happened to this one?"

"Uh, I got caught in a current, and my leg tangled in the line, so I had to cut the line on that one."

Simmons opened the first cooler as Rodgers climbed back in the boat. There were three waterproof bags with (presumably) $500,000 worth of T-bills in each. He handed one to Camisarosa and started to hand the other to Rodgers. As he looked up, he saw Rodgers pointing something wrapped in a black garbage bag at him.

"What's this?"

"It's my favorite sawed-off shotgun that I keep tied to the keel, just for this sort of occasion. I've had enough of your bossing us around. I came up with the plan, and I want more than a quarter of the diamonds. I'm taking them all."

Before either man could blink, Camisarosa had a handgun pulled from who-knows-where, pointing at Rodgers. "Little snot. Mister Simmons was the only person who could pull this off for us, and we agreed to his terms."

"Don't worry, Kenny. I'll give you half the diamonds."

Simmons took advantage of Rodgers being distracted and rushed him. Simmons grabbed the shotgun's barrel and pushed its aim out toward sea. He pulled back to punch Rodgers when Rodgers kicked Simmons in the shin. They strugged for a couple minutes, neither willing to let go of the shotgun and unable to overwhelm the other without letting go.

They stopped when the shotgun's report deafened them for a moment and echoed across the vast sea. The bag had a three-inch hole with two barrels protruding out, smoke whisping out both barrels. Simultaneously, Rodgers' and Simmons' gazes followed the path of the shotgun's aim and saw Camisarosa with a large hole in his chest.

Camisarosa seemed to be staring in disbelief. After a brief eternity, his muscles relaxed. He dropped the handgun and the bag of T-bills, and his knees collapsed under him. His hip struck the side of the boat, and he rolled overboard into the waters.

Rodgers' jaw dropped. "Oh my God! You killed Kenny! You bastard!"

Simmons let go of the shotgun. Rodgers grabbed the cooler with the diamonds as Simmons dove for the handgun. He pulled on the slide to make sure a round was chambered and pointed it at Rodgers. "You fired both barrels, and I've got a full magazine." Simmons stood.

It was time to take advantage of the situation. "Frank, put the cooler down. You're not getting any of the diamonds. You can still have your share of the T-bills, but I think you pulling a gun on me changes our original agreement."

"I'm not leaving without at least a quarter of the diamonds -- my original share."

posted June 04, 2002 18:08
"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

"Now now, Simmons. Put the gun down. We've got a beautiful friendship, and you wouldn't want to do anything rash, now, would you?"

"Set the cooler down, Frank. I did the hard part of the work, and I'm taking my fair share."

"What about my fair share? You think a few T-bills are fair payment for all of my hard work? I'm the one who came up with the plan in the first place! Huh huh huh."

"You couldn't have pulled it off without me, and you know it. You're nothing but a little weasel."

"Aww, Danny boy, you're hurting my feelings."

Dan Simmons pulled back the hammer and raised the pistol to point to Frank's face instead of his chest. "Last chance. Put the cooler down and get the hell off my boat. It's only a couple miles to Miami -- the swim'll do you good. And don't call me Danny."

"You're a real heartless bastard, Simmons." He lowered the cooler gently to the deck. "Adieu, mon capitan." In one graceful motion, he grabbed the small waterproof bag with the T-bills and dove over the side of the yacht. A small splash of water was the last Dan Simmons ever heard of him.

posted June 04, 2002 20:54
It was nearly 10am when Simmons reached the harbor. He pulled the boat alongside the dock and admired the view. Tan, island beauties were walking along the nearby beach. "I'm going to like it here", he thought to himself.

He tucked his weapons into the bottom of his duffle bag and grabbed the cooler with the jewels. It made a splashing sound when he picked it up. That wasn't right. Inside, he found 3 cans of beer and a bucket of bait, floating in melted ice. He cursed, with a sincerity he rarely had for anything.

He looked back out to sea. The little bastard was out there somewhere. Probably back in Miami by now. With his annoying laugh and bad jokes, oh, and $10 million in diamonds. Simmons knew he would never see either again.

Eventually he smiled. The job had sounded too good in the first place. Served him right for trying to sweeten the deal. He walked up the dock to the bar and ordered a bourbon. He downed it quickly and got another. As he nursed that one he watched the crowd gathering by the pool. They were mostly tourists with too much money and flab, not neccessarily in that order.

When he asked for his third and the bartender said "A man who drinks like that before lunch don't know where he'll wake up in the morning". "Yup", Simmons replied, "you don't know how right you are."